Weather Forecast

Brainerd School Board: FInal 2013 levy approved

Similar to the first proposed tax levy for 2013 that presented to the Brainerd School Board on Sept. 29, an even bigger reduction was presented to the board on Monday night.

The board unanimously approved the final total tax levy for 2013 as the presented $16,684,704, a decrease of $70,889 between the proposal and the final and a decrease of $161,175 from 2012 to 2013.

Director of Business Services Steve Lund presented a rundown of levy history during Monday night’s regular school board meeting, showing a wide variety of change, including jumping from $15,786,225 in 2011 to $16,845,879 in 2012.

Focused on three main components — general fund, community service fund and debt service fund — changes between 2012 and 2013 were reflected in the final tax levy proposal.

The general fund went from $7,375,838 in 2012 to $7,170,907 in the final 2013, a $204,931 reduction and was the biggest difference among the three categories.

Lund added another contributing factor is the city and county’s property tax. Crow Wing County has a 3.3 percent proposed property tax increase and Baxter had a 1.2 percent proposed property tax increase.

The levy proposed and certified in 2012 are for taxes payable in calendar year 2013 and the revenue the district receives is recognized in the district’s fiscal year 2014 budget — July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.